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Friday, January 21, 2011

The Islanders Finally Beat the Red Wings at Something

Nabby Claimed Off of Waivers

Nabokov left the KHL about a month ago, wanting to play again in the NHL. Instead, as things stand right now, he'll be playing for the Islanders. Nabby had signed a one-year, $570,000 contract with the banged-up Red Wings. It was a win-win situation: the Red Wings will be without goalie Chris Osgood for another six weeks or so and at age 35, Nabby is a spring chicken by Detroit standards. Nabokov would once again get to play in the NHL and for a contending team. Everyone's happy and all the hockey fans got to point out the irony of Nabokov being claimed by the Red Wings, who he helped beat in the playoffs as a member of the Sharks last year, while the Sharks, who were beaten in the playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, signed Antti Niemi, who helped Chicago beat San Jose.

There was only one little snag- Nabby had to clear waivers before he could play for Detroit, which meant that another team had a chance to claim him. That team ended up being the Islanders, so no playoffs for Nabokov this year. But look on the bright side Nabby- you said you wanted to play for a team where you had a chance to contend for the starting job, and since Rick DiPietro will soon be our for the season when he inevitably tears his groin by stepping onto the ice for practice, your wish will come true.

Reminder- Nabokov cannot be assigned to the AHL because he was signed after December 15. Also, if the Isles want to trade him (as there has ALREADY been talk of), he would have to clear waivers again, which would just give another team a chance to snatch him up without giving up anything, so I think it's highly unlikely. But we'll see.

As If the Avs Weren't Banged Up Enough Already...

Forward Tomas Fleischmann's first season in Colorado has come to an abrupt and unfortunate end. Flash will miss the rest of the 2010-11 season with a pulmonary emboli. He will have to be on blood thinners for several months.

Losing Flash is a big blow to the Avs and not just because they're rivaling Detroit for most injured team in the NHL. Fleischmann, who was traded to Colorado from Washington earlier this season, had tallied 21 points in 22 games with the Avalanche. Any team in the NHL would miss that kind of production from their lineup.

Best of luck to Flash on his recovery.

Speaking of the Avs

Peter Forsberg has apparently decided he wants to take Chris Chelios' title as "Brett Favre of the NHL" (minus the dong pictures, of course) and is going to practice with the Avalanche starting today. He says that he wants to see what kind of physical shape he is in and what better way to do so than by practicing with actual NHL players?

At least he's practicing with his old team so his comeback isn't going to be with a division rival like the Canucks or the Wild or the Vikings or anything. (See what I did there?)

All-Star Alternate Captains Named

Patrick Kane, Martin St. Louis, Ryan Kesler, and Mike Green were named alternate captains for the All-Star game. Kesler and Green will the alternates if Eric Staal is unable to play, and Kane and St. Louis will be the alternates for Nicklas Lidstrom.

I know a lot of Penguins fans are either confused or laughing until they cry over Mike Green being named an All-Star, much less an alternate captain. Don't worry, fellow Pens fans- the All-Star game means about as much as the Presidents' Trophy. And we all saw how well that worked out for the Caps last year.